Physicians across Washington created a website to help patients suffering from back and leg pain predict if spinal fusion procedures will relieve their symptoms, according to Reuters.
Here are five takeaways:
1. The calculations are based off of 1,965 adults seen at 15 Washington hospitals from 2012 to 2015. All patients were candidates for lumbar spine surgery.
2. The physicians recommend a patient use the website with their physicians unless he or she is fluent in technical details, such as how he or she ranks on the American Society of Anesthesiologists' physical status classification system.
3. Patients can view how insurance type, use of prescription opioids and decision to delay surgery may affect surgery success.
4. Physicians found 58 percent of patients with moderate to severe symptoms reported symptom relief after surgery compared to the 43.8 percent of patients who opted out of surgery.
5. A majority of patients, 68.5 percent, who underwent spinal fusions experienced improved back pain compared to the 53.4 percent of patients who did not undergo surgery.